Building a 3DR "Simple"

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

RTurnock — Thu, 01 May 2014 16:22:36 -0400

@Mallgan.O

Aha, that is the problem. I have official Printrbot Board from Printrbot. It has their boatloader installed.

Why is the one you have in the dropbox folder different?
I would have to buy the hardware to burn a new boot loader and I have never done that before.......not sure I want to.

I have not actually tried going directly from IDE......I should try that.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

Mallgan.O — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:54:12 -0400

Since posting I have; if I understood correctly, discovered that my board is not an official Printrbot board and have a different bootloader so this may not apply to your board. Here it is anyway, you might consider burning a new bootloader if you think it is worth the hassle.

[dl.dropboxusercontent.com]

Inside is a teensy folder. Place it in your hardware folder and make a backup if you have one there already because there are modified files inside. There are backups of the folders containing modified files marked _bak if you want take a look at whats been changed.

After restarting arduino I got this:
[attachment 31756 ScreenShot2014-04-28at8.09.57PM.png]

And I was happy again :)

I hope it works for you too, good luck.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

RTurnock — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 11:36:52 -0400

@Mallgan.O

YES! I am definitely interested in uploading from IDE directly.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

RTurnock — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 20:13:55 -0400

Update on Printrboard problem connecting to MAC.

Symptoms: Printrboard would not connect in Repetier or Cura. could not upload firmware and board seemed to be stuck in boot loader mode.
Actions:
1. Checked to make sure there was no jumper or solder connecting the boot pins.
2. disconnected the T-ext, the thermistor for the hot end.
3. followed PxT directions using Pre-configured Arduino to verify, compile and save Marlin.cpp.hex file in temp folder, located using Terminal on MAC.
Google: PxT Wiki Printrbot
4. drag and drop hex file on Printrboard Firmware Uploader and followed the directions carefully.
removed the jumper. disconnect usb and power. Reconnect.
Opened Repetier and selected port: usbmodem12341 that is mapped in my MAC to usb plug in back of computer.
3DR Simple will use USB location fa13
I have two other USB locations fa12 and fd14.
>>>>>>>>>>
USB bus fa and a USB bus fd
USB bus fa has USB hub fa1
USB bus fd has USB hub fd1
USB hub fa1 has USB location fa13 (Printrboard for 3DR Simple)
USB hub fd has USB location fd14 (Printrboard for Printrbot Simple)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Then disconnected 3DR Simple from MAC, turned off the power to it.
powered up Printrbot Simple, connected USB.
Opened System Information. Noticed that the Printrbot Simple will use USB location fd13 (the other one uses fa13)
Opened Repetier and a new serial port was available called usbmodem11
Hurrah!
Now to make sure I always plug my USB connection into the same location.
Probably best to just leave them plugged into the back of the computer and disconnect at the Printrboard.

Yeah. I am back up and working.
Thank you for letting me rant on my problem.
Hope this helps someone else.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

Mallgan.O — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 03:46:03 -0400

If anyone is interested in beeing able to upload from arduino ide I can upload my hardware folder so you can have a look. It is pretty convenient.
I think I should mention I am on a mac btw.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

RTurnock — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 23:35:16 -0400

Firmware updates to Printrboard to upload Marlin for 3DR Simple.
[www.printrbottalk.com]

I use a MAC and have to do a bunch of things for Updating Firmware.
I downloaded the Printrbot Firmware Updater and use Arduino IDE to verify/complie and create the HEX file.

Unplug everything, including USB to Printrboard, turn off power or unplug.
Use pre-configured Arduino IDE to modify Marlin code and verify-compile. Note the file name at the end of the list.
For me:
/var/folders/6x/pk1wrcvs07s4b0c067y_3sgw0000gn/T/build6641325177505948607.tmp/Marlin.cpp.hex
Use Terminal app: open $TMPDIR
Drag and drop Marlin.cpp.hex onto Printrbot Firmware Updater app.
Follow the directions exactly.
Remove jumper
Disconnect power and then reconnect power.
Open Repetier, connect and confirm changes.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

Mallgan.O — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 15:42:05 -0400

Quote
JohnSL
And yes, you have to follow the same steps as it seems the Printrboard doesn't have a bootloader that would allow you to download the firmware directly from the Arduino IDE.

I was screwing around for hours trying to get the DFU thingy to work on my mac. Finally I got really pissed and tried to upload from arduino IDE anyway and behold, it worked :)

Unfortunately I was so tired and went to bed afterwards so I don´t remember what of all the things I tried made it work. I added a hardware/teensy folder and it was some mucking about getting the right combo of versions of the files/folders in there or something.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

Funkymonk — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:32:41 -0400

Quote
RTurnock

Quote
Funkymonk
I designed a plastic spool holder for the 3DR Simple. It works great in conjunction with:[www.thingiverse.com].
Just place it in the upper frame.

[www.thingiverse.com]
3DR-Simple Filament spool holder
by Funkymonk, published Jan 20, 2014
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Is there a way to get this designed to fit a Mini Kossel?

Feel free to modify it.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

RTurnock — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 22:51:31 -0400

Quote
Funkymonk
I designed a plastic spool holder for the 3DR Simple. It works great in conjunction with:[www.thingiverse.com].
Just place it in the upper frame.

[www.thingiverse.com]
3DR-Simple Filament spool holder
by Funkymonk, published Jan 20, 2014
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Is there a way to get this designed to fit a Mini Kossel?

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

JohnSL — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:47:39 -0500

At the very end of my latest entry you'll find links to instructions

Building the 3DR “Simple” Delta Printer, Part III [trains.socha.com]

And yes, you have to follow the same steps as it seems the Printrboard doesn't have a bootloader that would allow you to download the firmware directly from the Arduino IDE.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:45:43 -0500

Yep, I think so.

I've never installed precompiled binaries from printrbot though.

I used dfu-programmer to send the firmware to the board.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

PierreB — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 22:02:45 -0500

What's the sequence for getting the updated firmware onto the Printrboard? I've got the latest version of Marlin with the necessary modifications, it compiles in the Arduino environment, then what?

I've updated the Printrboard with precompiled binaries from Printrbot before which required toggling a jumper pin on the Printrboard, then loading some software to upload the binary. Is that the sequence the same for this, I just point it at the newly compiled Marlin binary?

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 02:19:43 -0500

In other news: I've added active cooling to my extruder stepper, since it is under a good bit of load all the time:

IMG_20140127_235321.jpg

A heatsink and fan are epoxied on with heatsink epoxy and a 40C N.O bimetal switch is wired in and epoxied on. When the stepper gets to 40C, the fan kicks on and cools it down.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 02:15:57 -0500

Hmmm. It turns out the totally warped and deformed platform was _not_ the cause of the strange skewing.

After I got it all back together with the new platform, and got it re-calibrated, I tried the 50mm tower again. It had the same skewing...

I've decided to start adjusting the top of the z-tower again. I've adjusted it to ~18mm, as apposed to the other tower's ~20mm.

Those adjustments produced these results:

IMG_20140128_020333.jpg

Better, but the affect seems to be getting less. My new theory is that the issue isn't actually the height of the top, but rather that the linear rods on the z-tower are being flexed. Letting off the top reduced the flex. So, I've twisted them a bit and am trying the print again.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 23:58:18 -0500

Much better now!

Also, it turns out the as-designed numbers for the measurements are dead on!

I'm doing the last bit of calibration now to make sure my rods are right at 200mm as well.

Edit: They are.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 22:08:08 -0500

Finally got the replacement printed in ABS with no curling...

IMG_20140127_215444.jpg

Sheesh, PLA is so much easier to work with!

EDIT:
Well, it actually warped a little even with the ears... It's not much at all, so I'll give it a go anyway.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 18:57:02 -0500

I'm pretty sure I found the problem!

I decided to examine the bot a lot more closely after re-re-re-measuring the tower heights and found this:

IMG_20140127_182756.jpg

That looks a bit warped, huh?

Took it apart and this is the platform:

IMG_20140127_183732.jpg

So, I'm going to print another one in ABS at a fairly high infill density and try that.

I did a couple of test prints without the fan, so maybe that caused it? In either case, this is pretty surely the source of my weirdness.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

BaconLover — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 17:21:08 -0500

My theory on the skew: DELTA_DIAGONAL_ROD is wrong. This would cause the X-Y symmetry to be maintained but skew Z.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:45:24 -0500

Here is an example of the problem:

IMG_20140127_123628.jpg

IMG_20140127_123707.jpg

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 08:24:51 -0500

I've ordered a set of the machined spools in the hopes that what I'm seeing is due to errors in my printed spools.

Looking here, and specifically at:

central-movement.gif

edges-movement.gif

Makes me think that, if the problem is errors in my spools, I should see a difference in the affect by printing the object closer to the edge of my print area. I'll test that tonight.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:49:12 -0500

After adjusting the Z-Tower top to be the same height as the other two, the skew problem has gotten better, but not eliminated.

Now what I'm seeing is a slight amount of skew, still towards the Z-Tower, only happening about 8mm up the print from the bottom. After about 8mm, the skew stops and things seem pretty normal.

It seems that in the area of the skew, in the direction of the skew, things are just a bit oversized as well.

I suppose I could try pushing the top of the Z-Tower down further, since that did affect this problem before, but at the moment it is pretty much dead on the same height as the other 2 towers...

Any suggestions?

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 01:05:43 -0500

Another thing.

I slowed down my homing speed even more. Now its 70*60.

I think it might be knocking the end-stops too hard and messing with the height calibration.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 01:03:36 -0500

Thanks JohnSL.

My calibration was heading toward that number (I was .5 off). I'll try again with exactly that number since I'm pretty confident in the quality of my parts.

I see that my z tower top frame is 3mm higher (in relation to the aluminum extrusion) than the other 2 towers. I suspect that is the source of my skew.

I'll fix that and try the exact numbers from the CAD files tomorrow.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 00:58:32 -0500

Now that is just weird.

I printed a 50mm tall tower. The first ~14mm of it skewed toward my Z tower but the rest of it printed pretty well true.

I wonder if that might actually be something with the spool on that axis.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

JohnSL — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 00:13:40 -0500

Here are the numbers that I get directly from my SolidWorks files:

#define DELTA_SMOOTH_ROD_OFFSET 133.54 // mm
#define DELTA_EFFECTOR_OFFSET 22.87 // mm
#define DELTA_CARRIAGE_OFFSET 16.5

The first number is a little smaller because the image in my blog post on firmware settings isn't correct. It should be the distance from the rods to the plane through the center, not to the center itself. I'll update my blog post and this should become clearer. In any event, the value of 133.54 is the correct value to use as a starting point. Your actual value will depend on how well your printer is calibrated, so you'll most like need to change this value a little to ensure the head stays the same distance from the build plate throughout it's travel.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 23:34:42 -0500

E steps / mm were way off. Seeing as I just stole some values from a random repository of AirTripper's I wasn't surprised.

Measured and set them more correctly at 97/mm. That'll do well enough to keep calibrating.

Now I'm printing a 20X20 test shape pretty well. It's measuring out to be right around 20mm on both sides (20.1X20.5). But, it seems skewed in one direction.

The print is not exactly centered on the bed (Repetier doesn't seem to want to do that when "center" is pressed.), so I wonder if that is why it is skewed in a particular direction...

Any pointers on removing the skew?

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 21:03:58 -0500

OK, first print happened!

Decided I needed to wire up the fan, but it didn't work.

After some research I found that I needed to set the fan pin to 16 instead of 22. That fixed it.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 19:53:55 -0500

Good news! By carefully reading the blog here I was able to get the heights at all 4 points pretty damn close.

Thanks jaydmdigital for that. I was adjusting in the wrong direction, that's why things made so little sense.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

gmh39 — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 19:16:16 -0500

Quote
brendanjerwin
Alright, I'm at a bit of a lose here.

I'm trying to get the delta radius set but things just aren't making sense.

With these settings (I know, horrible things done to the smooth rod offset):
// Center-to-center distance of the holes in the diagonal push rods.
#define DELTA_DIAGONAL_ROD 200.0 // mm | 200 mm as built

// Horizontal offset from middle of printer to smooth rod center.
#define DELTA_SMOOTH_ROD_OFFSET 155.0 // mm | 135.518 mm from CAD

// Horizontal offset of the universal joints on the end effector.
#define DELTA_EFFECTOR_OFFSET 22.872 // mm  | 22.872 mm from CAD

// Horizontal offset of the universal joints on t  he carriages.
#define DELTA_CARRIAGE_OFFSET 16.5 // mm | 16.5 mm from blog on first design
It goes right to the center at 0-height when I execute:
G0 F8000 X0 X0 Z0
But it goes just a hair off the side of the bed and ~6mm above the bed when I execute this:
G0 F8000 X-58 Y-34 Z0
I've been _increasing_ the smooth rod offset to try and get the heights at the center and edge on the same plane, but all it seems to be doing is pushing the thing further to the side. (It makes sense that it would too, but I guess I need to know what to adjust to get the heights on the same plane.)

I think that is because the bed is not translated into a completely flat circle in the firmware (or something like that). I remember when I had my Rostock MAX, you had to calibrate it for the theoretical bed curvature.

There is a pretty in depth guide on the SeeMeCNC website about setting up their delta printers. It should basically apply to every delta printer.

Re: Building a 3DR "Simple"

brendanjerwin — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 18:43:09 -0500

Hmmm. I just re-read that blog post on configuration and I think I've been going the wrong direction with my adjustment of smooth rod offset...

Lemme try again.